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Yadkin County Commissioners unveil Ag Center renderings

The proposed Yadkin County Agricultural Center became a little more real at the Nov. 19 Yadkin County Commissioners Meeting.

The board of commissioners shared the digital renderings of what the proposed site would like if built in the area behind the Surry Community College Yadkin Center off Highway 601.

The center will feature eight classrooms, a cafeteria for Surry Community College and Yadkin Early College students, two to three administrative offices and two multi-use rooms on the lower level.

The upper level of the building will feature a separate entrance from Highway 601, offices for Soil and Water, Natural Resources Conservation Services, NC Cooperative Extension and NC Forestry. It will also feature a 304 capacity banquet hall that can be partitioned to 1/3 or 2/3 its size, a commercial kitchen and a demonstration kitchen.

County Manager Aaron Church estimates that the facility will be 35,000 square feet. It is estimated that the facility will cost approximately $135 to $200 per square foot, which would come to a total of $4 million to $7 million to complete the facility if these calculations are accurate.

“This is very preliminary,” Church said. “The cost will vary based on price per square foot.”

Austin said that he, Commissioner Gilbert Hemric and Church made a presentation to the Surry Community College Board of Trustees presenting the renderings and explaining the purpose of the facility and the goals of the county. Austin said that he encourage the board to begin setting a capital campaign in motion on behalf of the school.

Austin said that the county will also build its own capital campaign since the facility will also house county agricultural offices. He said that the county has received commitments of $100,000 from the Tobacco Trust Fun Commission, $50,000 from Yadkin County Farm Bureau and $28,000 from the Dairymen’s Organization.

“It’s a great way for the community college to get to know our farmers and set that relationship in motion,” Austin said.

The other commissioners showed excitement and encouragement for the facility and the progress it is making.

“We want to make sure we this taken care of so our farmers don’t have to travel outside of the county or to great distances to do their crop reporting or continuing education,” Commissioner David Moxley said. “This is going to be a great addition to our county not only for our farmers but also for our schools and our community.”

Other topics from the meeting:

-The board set a public hearing for Dec. 17 at 7 p.m. to consider proposed text amendments to the Yadkin county zoning ordinance in regards to temporary uses as it pertains to movie sets, allowing small scale auto sales as a conditional use in the RA district, allowing small scale restaurants in conjunction with horse show/riding facilities, allowing for solar panel farms as a conditional use, reducing the number of allowable junk vehicles on a property from six to three and providing civil penalties in the amount of $50 per zoning violation.

-The board voted unanimously in favor of approving a change order for the Yadkin County Jail construction. The change order requested an additional $22,763 in order to replace unsuitable soil with flowable fill, to correct a math error, for revisions to the storm drain and sanitary discharge, to change the ceiling heights and to change security hollow metal mullions and plate at the top of dayroom frames to impact resistant drywall. According to the change order, there will be no change to the contract amount and the cost of the change order will come out of the contingency allowance included in the contract. The balance remaining in contingency after this change order will be $47,608.65.

-The board voted unanimously in favor of approving the project ordinance for the Yadkin-Elkin Manufacturing Career Initiative New Generations grant. The New Generations grant from the North Carolina Rural Center awarded Yadkin County and Elkin a joint grant for $100,000 to assist in keeping residents between the ages of 18 and 30 in the area. Yadkin County and Elkin had to match the grant with $5,000, which they split for a total of $2,500 for each location. The project ordinance shows an allotment of $43,680 for training fees, $25,000 for classified advertising and marketing and $36,320 for meeting and conference expenses and travel. The grant money is going to focus on making the 18 to 30 age group aware of the manufacturing jobs in the Yadkin County and Elkin area and assisting them in training and preparation for those jobs. This will be a collaborative effort between Elkin, Yadkin County, Surry Community College and the SCC-Yadkin Center.

-The board voted unanimously to appoint Resha Peregrino-Brimah to the previously vacant alternate position on the Planning Board. Brimah is an East Bend resident.

Reach Lindsay Craven at 679-2341 or at lcraven@heartlandpublications.com.